Langlois - BSG Review

Book Reviews

Political Theory

The Dark Side of Modernity by Jeffrey C.

Alexander. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013. 187pp.,

15.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4822 4

This book is a collection of texts by Jeffrey C. Alexan-

der, most of which have been previously published as

book chapters or journal articles. Alexander sums up his

ideas and criticisms of modern thought, which he

divides into four elements: philosophy, psychology, art

and social engineering (p. 10). His focus is on the nega-

tive effects side of modernity, whereof the gloomy title

of the book. This intellectual exploration brings forth

an argument that modernity is indeed two-dimensional

evil and good and at the same time both backward-

and forward-looking. Modernity, in other words,

incites, encourages and produces the best and the worst

kinds of social behaviour. This comprises technological

and medical advances, the successful welfare systems and

public education institutions, but it also includes the

potential for violence of cataclysmic proportions, mass

killings and limited freedoms (pp. 5461).

This guiding premise is critically engaged through-

out the book. Alexander contrasts progress with

debauchery in relation to the material and moral

human condition. He analyses Webers understanding

of rationality (pp. 459) and the process of rationali-

sation as an example of modern intellectual struggle

where reason and faith are constantly in conflict, and

where faith will inevitably lose. Rationalisation came

to be a process that ultimately objectified people in

order to dominate them, replacing the old forms of

domination with modern ones: isolation and cultural

abandonment (p. 53). Throughout the chapters, along-

side demonstrating the looming darkness within

(post-)modernity, Alexander also suggests ways of

overcoming the deep flaws embedded in it (pp. 767).

By analysing various points of tension in modernity

Alexander points to potential ways we, as a society,

could amend and diffuse the tensions. He invokes

Simmels notion of strangeness as one element of

tension, wherein a variety of opposing groups in a

society seek to dehumanise the other, thus rendering

them the enemy to be destroyed (pp. 958). These

tensions are seemingly inherent and essentially a neces-

sary part of human imagination and subsequent sociali-

sation rooted in our conceptions of good and evil (pp.

11022). As a sociological theorist and functionalist,

Alexander gives much attention to civil society and its

ability to absorb, discuss and resolve much of the noted

tensions. The healing process within which the darkness

of modernity can be ameliorated involves individual

self-repair and introspection, collective insistence on

improving human rights, social mobilisation and social

criticism, but also developing international institutions

that would facilitate various locally produced capacities

to assuage tensions. This book offers a highly engaging

and insightful overview of modernity with one major

flaw it is too short.

Emin Poljarevic(University of Edinburgh)

Experimental Philosophy: An Introduction by

Joshua Alexander. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2012.

154pp., 15.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4918 4

It is often thought that the strength of a philosophical

theory rests on the extent to which it accords with our

philosophical intuitions. These include our intuitions

about whether it is permissible to kill someone inten-

tionally in order to save a number of lives, whether a

person can be morally responsible if she could not

have done otherwise, and whether justified true belief

is sufficient for knowledge. Traditionally, philosophers

have relied on their own intuitions as the basic data for

philosophical inquiry. The problem with that strategy

is that they often share the same educational back-

ground as well as a similar way of thinking. Moreover,

empirical evidence suggests that humans tend to over-

estimate the extent to which others agree with them.

POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW: 2014 VOL 12, 248343

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2014 The Authors. Political Studies Review 2014 Political Studies Association
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Experimental philosophy promises to overcome this

potential source of bias by using the tools of the

cognitive and social sciences to uncover the philo-

sophical intuitions of ordinary people. The literature in

this burgeoning area of inquiry often reads like a

detective novel where each researcher is engaged in a

search not only for peoples intuitions, but also the

factors that trigger those intuitions. Joshua Alexander

provides us with an excellent introduction to the

empirical detective work that has been undertaken

since experimental philosophy was first conceived a

little more than ten years ago. From his highly readable

book we learn, for example, that normative considera-

tions influence whether people assign intentionality to

a persons actions. The side effects of a persons action

are interpreted as intentional in those cases where the

effect is morally bad and unintentional in those cases

where the effect is morally good. In addition, experi-

mental evidence suggests that emotional responses

influence the attribution of moral responsibility. In a

deterministic world, people assign responsibility to a

person for causing a bad outcome, but not for causing

a good outcome.

Perhaps most surprising of all is that some of the

standard philosophical intuitions that philosophers

assume to be universally shared appear to vary between

cultures and between genders. As Alexander concedes,

this represents a potential problem for an approach to

philosophical inquiry that takes intuitions as basic data

points for constructing theory. The research findings

described in this volume are genuinely fascinating, and

Alexander does an admirable job of drawing out their

implications for contemporary philosophy. This book

should be of considerable interest to scholars and stu-

dents who are curious about this intriguing approach

to philosophy.

Simon Wigley(Bilkent University, Ankara)

The Dunayevskaya-Marcuse-Fromm Corre-

spondence, 19541978: Dialogues on Hegel, Marx

and Critical Theory by Kevin B. Anderson and

Russell Rockwell (eds). Plymouth: Lexington Books,

2012. 267pp., 21.95, ISBN 978 0 7391 6836 3

In these letters, Anderson and Rockwell give their

readers the opportunity to be the fly on the wall for

the informal discussions between three of the most

noteworthy leftist theorists of the twentieth century.

The correspondence between Raya Dunayevskaya and

Herbert Marcuse, and Dunayevskaya and Erich Fromm

runs from 1954 to 1978. The most significant contri-

bution this text makes, beyond the correspondence

between these important thinkers to the historical

record, is contained in the extensive introduction,

which summarises and contextualises the letters to

follow.

The editors argue that the publication of this book

containing their original introduction, the correspond-

ence and the appendices (which include several

re-published prefaces, introductions and book reviews

discussed extensively in the letters) represents a signifi-

cant contribution to ongoing discussions within

Marxism and Critical Theory and their connection to

Hegelian thought. However, this seems to be some-

what overstated. This contribution to the historical

development and evolution of (post-)Marxist thinking

re-emphasises the great contributions made by

Dunayevskaya a seriously under-appreciated radical

thinker in her own right and in these letters she often

outshines the more widely read and appreciated

counterparts to whom she was writing. This corre-

spondence evinces her original thinking and scholar-

ship in the fields of Hegelian Marxism, radical

humanism and feminist socialism, as well as her influ-

ence in these regards on the more widely recognised

Fromm and Marcuse.

Although the correspondence (as is often the case)

contains a lot of personal discussions that are not

especially relevant to the topics of Marx, Hegel or

Critical Theory, some of the personal missives illu-

minate the human relationships at play in academia,

especially during such a tumultuous domestic and

international political period. Alongside that, though,

there is a great deal of discussion of the personal/

professional roadblocks Dunayevskaya faced regardless

of her obvious intellectual ingenuity, especially in

getting her work published due to her lack of formal

academic credentials.

Although significant, I wonder if this work is a bit

premature because of the inability to publish the

actual texts of Fromms letters (due to posthumous

restrictions put in place by his estate). Fromms cor-

respondence is summarised by the editors and is

therefore not a primary source. Overall, this book is

an important piece of scholarship that is worth

BOOK REVIEWS 249

2014 The Authors. Political Studies Review 2014 Political Studies AssociationPolitical Studies Review: 2014, 12(2)

reading for professional academics already interested in

Critical Theory.

Bryant William Sculos(Florida International University, Miami)

Nonviolence in Political Theory by Iain Atack.

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012. 202pp.,

19.99, ISBN 978 0 7486 3378 4

While in recent decades international relations and

democratic politics have been marked and inspired by

practices of nonviolence including the end of com-

munism in Eastern Europe, the Orange Revolution in

Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the

Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, and the Occupy

Wall Street movement the field of political theory

has not included the category of nonviolence among

its central preoccupations. In this regard, Iain Atacks

Nonviolence in Political Theory marks a possible change ofdirection and suggests new research trajectories, as it

examines the place of nonviolence and civil resistance

in political theory. It applies the perspective of con-

temporary theories of power and violence, as well as

the role of the state and the nature of socio-political

change. Reaching beyond the historical analysis of

nonviolence as a political idea and event, Atack turns

to the philosophies of Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi,

Martin Luther King, Hannah Arendt and Gene Sharp

to examine the conceptual tapestry of two main

streams in the tradition of nonviolence: principled

nonviolence and pragmatic nonviolence.

The question of the state, its legitimacy and role in

the achievement of public liberty and security is the

main reference point in the book. It is considered both

from the perspective of social contract theory and the

more radical traditions of Georges Sorel and Frantz

Fanon. That particular conceptual and methodological

approach allows Atack to highlight the complexity and

diversity of the area of nonviolence insofar as it incor-

porates diverse, and sometimes conflicting, positions,

which include Tolstoys appeal to eliminate the coer-

cive institution of the state inspired by his Christian

anarchist ethics, and Gandhis belief in the possibility

of the progressive substitution of the institutionalised

violence of the state by practices of nonviolence for

the goal of achieving a peaceful society (ramaraj). Thequestion of nonviolence in contemporary political

theorising of power and state violence is subsequently

taken up in Atacks reading of Michel Foucault and

Antonio Gramsci. Finally, the book also includes dis-

cussion of pacifism and nonviolence as related, but

mutually irreducible political and philosophical posi-

tions, thus situating nonviolence specifically in the

context of armed conflict and internationalism.

This book is a highly recommended text for under-

graduate courses in critical political philosophy and in

democratic theory, as well as for graduate students who

are focusing on the topics of regime change, demo-

cratic transition and consolidation, civil protest, paci-

fism and war.

Magdalena Zolkos(University of Western Sydney)

The Philosophy of Race by Albert Atkin.

Durham, NC: Acumen, 2012. 194pp., 15.99, ISBN

978 1 84465 515 1

This is a smartly written book that is a wonderful

introduction to complex debates about the philosophy

of race. Albert Atkin takes readers around the world

from the United Kingdom to the United States, South

America to Continental Europe, and in so doing gives

them an international perspective on race. This alone is

commendable. Despite its small size, this book contains

a wealth of information. Yet readers hoping for par-

ticularly in-depth case studies or thorough understand-

ings of particular thinkers or philosophies will need to

look beyond this text. The book will help those

needing a quick refresher on the philosophy of race as

well as those who want an introduction to the field.

This work is divided into five short chapters,

bookended by an introduction and conclusion. The

chapters Is Race Real?, Is Race Social?, What

Should We Do with Race?, Racism, The Everyday

Impact of Race and Racism are judicially divided

into subsections and each chapter ends with its own

conclusion. This structure makes the book readable in

short sittings, contributing to its utility as a study guide

or quick reference. The book is accessible to readers of

all experience levels.

One cannot help but notice several omissions.

Frantz Fanon, Cornel West, Eric Michael Dyson and

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. are absent, as are the majority of

critical race theorists and critical race feminists. Atkin,

an expert in Charles Sanders Peirce, pragmatism and

semiotics, leaves this expertise out of the book, which

250 POLITICAL THEORY


is unfortunate because such discussions might lend

fruitfully to the text la Ruth Wodak and MichaelPounds, who have brought semiotics into conversation

with the philosophy of race.

These concerns are relatively minor. Atkin is adept

at discussing the intersections of philosophy and

biology as applied to race. Chapter 1 is particularly

helpful for scholars interested in the ways biology has

been used to promote notions of racial difference and

inequality. Atkin discusses science with aplomb. He

admits his discussion might be overwhelming to some,

but here he is simply too modest. His ability to distil

scientific arguments into readable prose is no small

accomplishment.

This text is strongly written and keenly priced. It

should be a welcome read for anyone, of any educa-

tional level, interested in the philosophy of race. While

not flawless, Atkin has provided a solid contribution to

this complex field, and has done so in an accessible and

engaging way.

Nick J. Sciullo(Georgia State University)

In Our Name: The Ethics of Democracy by Eric

Beerbohm. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University

Press, 2012. 352pp., 30.95, ISBN 978 0 691 15461 9

Work on the ethics of political conduct has tended to

worry at politicians virtues, vices and dirty hands. Eric

Beerbohms important new book zeroes in on the

moral responsibilities and entanglements of the indi-

vidual citizen in democratic societies. In particular, as

its title suggests, it is concerned with complicity, thespecial horror that you experience when state-

sponsored injustices are committed in your name (p.

1). The agreeable moral it draws for those who value

political participation is that the fuller our engagement

in politics the more we inform ourselves and protest

about the injustices carried out in our name the

lighter our moral complicity in these injustices.

Beerbohm works through three sets of ethical issues

that the citizen confronts: the ethics of participation,

belief and delegation. That each vote taken in isolation

is a drop in the ocean, he argues, does not erase a

defeasible moral reason to participate in elections

where one can make a contribution against injustice.

The cognitive bias and inattention of most of us when

it comes to politics also does not wipe out the notion

of responsibility (or, alternatively, demand that each

citizen become what Walter Lippmann called

omnicompetent). Instead, there is a place for an

appropriate set of cognitive shortcuts in a democratic

ethics of belief. Finally, citizens are viewed as

co-principals in shaping the terms of their interaction,

whose agents are an indispensable but fallible means for

the implementation of these terms. While Beerbohms

attention is largely on what it is like to be a citizen,

as he puts it, there is some discussion of the implica-

tions of this account of complicity, participation, belief

and delegation for macro-democratic design. In par-

ticular, he suggests a series of institutional paths

(including opt-outs and petitions) that allow us to

detach our agency from the states actions.

This is a vigorously anti-Hobbesian book that in

effect challenges those who vest less in the epistemic

capacities and moral responsibilities of the individual

citizen to work through the implications of their scep-

ticism. Combining wide learning with a tenacious and

undogmatic focus on the problems of democratic citi-

zenship, Beerbohm has written a book that identifies

fresh solutions to some important problems and

should become a key reference point for democratic

theorists.

Matthew Festenstein(University of York)

A Companion to Political Philosophy: Methods,

Tools, Topics by Antonella Besussi (ed.).

Farnham: Ashgate, 2012. 244pp., 75.00, ISBN 978 1

409 41062 1

Antonella Besussis edited volume has an ambitious

goal a complete overview of political philosophy

but it only delivers a fair overview of contemporary

thought (p. ix). The difficulties such overview texts

face are numerous two of which will be addressed

here. Foremost is the question of audience, after which

is the issue of what is included. By evaluating these

issues, this review uncovers the strengths and weak-

nesses of Besussis collaborative text.

Overall, the intended audience is unclear. The

methods section contains six chapters. Chapters 1, 4

and 6 are suitable for undergraduates, while chapters 2,

3 and 5 are not. In particular, Besussis first chapter

(explaining the tension between normative political

philosophy and the descriptive science of politics

BOOK REVIEWS 251


shaping political science today) is recommended for

undergraduates as a short, accessible introduction to

political thought and is more suitable than alternatives

like Strausss What is Political Philosophy?.1 Also,Pasqualis summary of the pros and cons of theories

emphasising feasibility versus desirability, and Zuolos

similar evaluation of realistic versus idealistic thought,

provide a good foundation for undergraduates.

However, the essays on truth, objectivity and the

debate over fact-grounded versus principle-grounded

theories necessitate a pre-existing grounding in political

philosophy more common to graduate students.

Next, the six chapters in the tools section are pri-

marily graduate level. Only Wijzes piece discussing

the means versus ends or the Machiavellian dirty

hands debate and possibly Reidys piece assessing

theories driven by what is right versus what is good are

appropriate for undergraduates. The four chapters on

politics/metaphysics, counterfactuals, justification and

trade-offs are denser, graduate readings.

Following this, the eight chapters in the topics

section are the most valuable in the book. Each piece

takes a topic (ranging from the enduring themes of

liberty, equality, justice and community to contempo-

rary ones of pluralism, public discourse, (dis)agreement

and identity/difference), identifies its key thinkers and

summarises their arguments. One is hard pressed to

find better concise summaries introducing contempo-

rary debates.

As for content, Besussis collaborative work should be

called A Companion to Contemporary Political Philoso-phy as this is not an overview of the history of political

thought. The methods section references some classics

(Plato and Aristotle) and there is some use of modern

thought (limited to Machiavelli, contractarianism and

utilitarianism). Contemporary thought particularly

Rawls is the focus. Habermas receives limited treat-

ment, post-modern and post-structural scholarship is

scarce (only Derridas deconstructionism receives much

attention), and Marxist scholarship is absent. Given that

most contributors are continental scholars, these choices

are surprising.

Note1 Strauss, L. (1959) What is Political Philosophy? Chicago, IL:

University of Chicago Press.

Michael T. Rogers(Arkansas Tech University)

Hegels Political Philosophy: A Systematic

Reading of the Philosophy of Right by Thom

Brooks. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,

second edition, 2013. 263pp., 22.99, ISBN 978 0

7486 4509 1

This book grew from a PhD thesis to a first edition in

2007. In this second edition of Hegels Political Philoso-phy, Brooks includes additional chapters discussingHegels views on democracy and history. Also new is a

reply to criticisms that followed the first edition. The

author set out to argue for a systematic reading of

Hegels work in particular Grundlinien der Philosophiedes Rechts (Elements of the Philosophy of Right). Part ofthe contemporary public shies away from Hegels

metaphysical, even religious, conceptions. Such read-

ings would focus on a single work or topic. Brooks

successfully demonstrates the explanatory force of

Hegels system while reading the Philosophy of Right.Over the years, Hegel described a dialectic, layered

system of the world and its thought. Brooks references

to conceptions Hegel introduced in other writings

improve our understanding of the Philosophy of Right.Brooks uses his first chapter to situate the Philosophy

of Right in the context of all Hegels writings. Ratherthan sketching the historical and philosophical context

of Hegels works, Brooks discusses interpretations of

those works and of the philosophers position. He does

not side with any one school of interpretation Hegel

seen as a conservative supporting the Prussian, reac-

tionary regime versus Hegel promoting liberal ideas. In

his moderation, Brooks turns our attention back to

Hegels texts. Chapter 5, for instance, explains how

Hegel thought about different forms of family life.

Brooks neither dismisses nor excuses Hegel for his

adherence to marriage with children, but rather shows

why an unmarried couple or a same-sex marriage does

not match the system of thought.

This book is aimed at those who read Hegels works

of political philosophy because it certainly helps to

choose how to read and understand those works. Like-

wise, some understanding of the Enlightenment,

German idealism, the Napoleonic wars and German

state-building can be deemed necessary to grasp

Hegels philosophy. Brooks book is less suited as a

stand-alone introduction to Hegels political philoso-

phy, although the author discusses Hegels views on

property, punishment, morality, family, law, monar-



chy, democracy, war and history. While he relates

those topics in the Philosophy of Right to other texts byHegel, he hardly contextualises them within history

and political theory in general.

Brooks writes clearly, does not confront readers with

German and his book does not require advanced famili-

arity with philosophy. However, there is a downside to

his clarity in that the chapters are somewhat repetitive.

Wouter-Jan Oosten(Sociotext Foundation, The Hague)

Marx on Gender and the Family: A Critical

Study by Heather A. Brown. Leiden: Brill, 2012.

232pp., 94.84, ISBN 9789004214286

In Marx on Gender and the Family, Heather Brown devel-ops a comprehensive analysis of Marxs entire oeuvre inrelation to the subjects of gender and the family. Based

on a clearly written textual engagement with Marxs

work, the book reveals the extent to which gender was

an essential category for him, despite the fact that he did

not formulate a systematic theory of gender (p. 3).

The book follows a chiefly chronological order with

which the impressive breadth of Marxs writings is

unpacked and examined with particular reference to

gender. Starting with the Economic and Philosophical

Manuscripts of 1844, Brown retraces the development

of Marxs thought on gender in his major and minor

publications, including inter alia, The German Ideology,The Communist Manifesto, Capital and a selection of TheNew York Tribune articles. Despite the fact that Marxsometimes used the vocabulary of Victorian ideology

in his writings, Brown maintains that the dialectical

method developed in Marxs corpus is a potent anti-

dote to the essentialist conceptualisations of gender

and the family and that Marxs categories provide

resources for feminist theory (p. 70). The conceptual

discussion is reinforced with examples highlighting

Marxs political activities and his direct engagement

with the social and economic oppressions faced by

women in bourgeois society.

The final two chapters provide highly original exami-

nations of the Ethnological Notebooks in which Marx

studied and engaged with the anthropological works of

Lewis Henry Morgan, Henry Sumner Maine, Ludwig

Lange, John Budd Pear, John Lubbock and Maxim

Kovalevsky. Focusing mainly on the sections related to

Morgan, Maine and Lange, Brown offers a crucial

reconsideration of the relationship between Marxs own

analysis of Morgans Ancient Society and Engels TheOrigin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Theauthor convincingly draws a line between Marxs and

Engels discussions of the position of women in histori-

cal development and underlines that for Marx, unlike

Engels, the introduction of private property and the

naturalisation of monogamy did not entail the world-

historic defeat of the female sex (pp. 117 and 158).

Brown makes a compelling case for revisiting Marxs

thought on gender since it is depicted as a productive

starting point for conceptualising agency and subjectiv-

ity compared to Engels relatively deterministic and

unilinear framework (p. 175).

Browns book is a laudable heir to Raya

Dunayevskayas Rosa Luxemburg, Womens Liberationand Marxs Philosophy of Revolution.1 But beyond itsimmanent value as a powerful contribution to

Marxism, the book further speaks to contemporary

feminist debates by re-emphasising the significance of

the dialectical method in overcoming binary dualisms

(e.g. nature/culture, man/woman) and examining the

non-static forms of social relations without overlook-

ing local and macro power-structures (p. 209).

Note1 Dunayevskaya, R. (1991) Rosa Luxemburg, Womens Lib-

eration and Marxs Philosophy of Revolution. Urbana, IL:University of Illinois Press.

Cemal Burak Tansel(University of Nottingham)

Dialogues with Contemporary Political Theorists

by Gary Browning, Raia Prokhovnik and Maria

Dimova-Cookson (eds). Basingstoke: Palgrave Mac-

millan, 2012. 248pp., 57.50, ISBN 978 0230303058

In this volume, Gary Browning, Maria Dimova-

Cookson, Raia Prokhovnik and others interview twelve

prominent contemporary thinkers. Benjamin Barber,

Jane Bennett, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Jerry Cohen,

William E. Connolly, Rainer Forst, Bonnie Honig,

Carole Pateman, Philip Pettit, Amartya Sen, Quentin

Skinner and R. B. J. Walker provide fascinating insights

into their work, discuss their intellectual trajectories,

and reflect on politics, ethics and society.

Barber stresses the limitations of representative

democracy, and defends a theory of strong democracy

BOOK REVIEWS 253


that cultivates the idea of an active and reflective citizen

body. Bennett challenges traditional understandings of

agency by introducing the notion of vibrant matter.

She argues that the real locus of agency is always a

human non-human collective (p. 53). Chakrabarty

reflects on the possibility of a genuinely democratic

modernisation based on an open-ended dialogue

between the subaltern classes and the elites (p. 67). For

Cohen, the current economic crisis shows the problem-

atic nature of the capitalist system, and creates more

space for egalitarian and progressive theorisation.

Connolly explores the dynamics of multidimensional

pluralism, and speaks of the fragility and tensions that

characterise the human condition today. Forst explains

the key ideas of his philosophical project: normative

justification in democratic politics, and a critical theory

of justice. Honigs vision of agonistic humanism

encompasses such issues as diagnostic political theory,

agonistic cosmopolitanism, the confrontation with the

other, and feminism as a democratic quest for equality

and shared power. Pateman refers to her critique of the

social contract tradition in The Sexual Contract and inContract and Domination (with Charles Mills). She thennotes the impact of globalisation and of the theories

of deliberative democracy on contemporary political

thought. Pettit argues that republicanism articulates

ideals of democratic justice, public justification and

civic freedom that seek to establish a relationship in

which the governors do not dominate the governed (p.

166). Sen extols the virtues of the social choice tradi-

tion in theorising justice, and advocates a global public

discourse on development and human well-being.

Skinner talks about the corpus of his work, highlights

his interest in the Renaissance, and defends the value

and the emancipatory character of the republican theory

of freedom. Walker shows that international relations

theory can address a variety of innovative themes, such

as spatiotemporality, the relation between subjectivity

and sovereignty, boundaries, as well as issues of meaning

and explanation.

The interviews in this volume are not only accessible,

but also skilfully executed and intellectually stimulating.

The reader is invited on a journey of exploration and

reflection in the rich landscape of political thought. The

experience is both rewarding and empowering.

Stamatoula Panagakou(University of Cyprus, Nicosia)

The Poetic Character of Human Activity:

Collected Essays on the Thought of Michael

Oakeshott by Wendell John Coats Jr. and Chor-

Yung Cheung. Plymouth: Lexington Books, 2012.

140pp, 37.95, ISBN 978 0 7391 7161 5

The British philosopher Michael Oakeshott is well-

known for his critique of Rationalism (the assumption

that social, economic and political problems can be

anticipated and are readily amenable to solution through

the application of human rationality), his preference for

an approach sensitive to tradition and his view that the

state should more closely approximate a civil association

than an enterprise association. Oakeshott is also known

for his preference for a morality of habit and affect over

a morality of principle. The Poetic Character of HumanActivity is a collection of essays on the element inOakeshotts thought that, in its critique of what

Oakeshott referred to as Rationalism, emphasises the

notion of craft and art over science and reason. Also

emphasised is the notion within his thought of a politics

founded on the notion of conversation, and his discus-

sion of the poetic or aesthetic as modes of experience.

Each of the authors has considered such issues in

previous works: Wendell Coats in Oakeshott and HisContemporaries and Chor-Yung Cheung in The Questfor Civil Order.1 They see this poetic or aesthetic aspectas fundamental to Oakeshotts understanding of how,

while eschewing Rationalism (which he views as con-

ducive to ideological politics), politics can keep a

society together and maintain civil peace while at the

same time permitting the flexibility that allows tradi-

tions to achieve continuity as well as evolution. Of the

nine essays included, six are by Coats and three are by

Cheung. The latter include the additional focus of

considering parallels between Oakeshotts thought and

that of thinkers within the Chinese tradition.

A number of other recent works on Oakeshott

one thinks of Glenn Worthingtons Religious and PoeticExperience in the Thought of Michael Oakeshott and Eliza-beth Campbell Coreys Michael Oakeshott: On Religion,Aesthetics and Politics2 have moved in a similar direc-tion albeit with some differences of emphasis. Such

an approach does shed light on some hitherto

neglected aspects of Oakeshotts thought. The PoeticCharacter of Human Activity presumes some prior famili-arity with his thought, and students of Oakeshott

should find this collection of interest.



Notes1 Coats, W. (2000) Oakeshott and His Contemporaries.

Selinsgrove, PA: Susquehanna University Press; C.-Y.Cheung (2007) The Quest for Civil Order: Politics, Rules andIndividuality. Exeter: Imprint Academic.

2 Worthington, G. (2005) Religious and Poetic Experience in theThought of Michael Oakeshott. Exeter: Imprint Academic; E.C. Corey (2006) Michael Oakeshott: On Religion, Aestheticsand Politics. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.

James G. Mellon(Independent scholar)

Immunitas: The Protection and Negation of

Life by Roberto Esposito. Cambridge: Polity Press,

2011. 207pp., 16.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4914 6

A theoretically innovative book, useful for those inter-

ested in the future of life and death in the biopolitical

age, Immunitas is the concluding piece of the trilogythat includes Bios and Communitas. The book convinc-ingly positions immunity as the framework of moder-

nity, employing law and religion to demonstrate the

gravitas of the immunitary paradigm. Communities are

rescued from violence through inoculation; the law

mobilises legitimate violence through various apparat-uses to manage proscribed violence; religion is remedy

to the cognizance of lifes bounds, assimilating uncer-

tainty through a promise of immortality.

The somatic mechanism of immunity is often

described through a lexicon of war and turmoil. An

etymological journey through the genesis of immun-

ity before its adoption by cellular biology leads to a

fascinating look at immunologists appropriation of

politico-legal language of conflict and death. Although

Roberto Esposito does not deny that a bodily

immunitary mechanism pre-dated the immunitary

model of law, the authors focus on the notions

genealogy is effective in illustrating the use of immun-

ity as a productive vehicle for the understanding of

spheres beyond human biology.

In the books final chapters, the discussion takes on

especial energy. Esposito engages in a convincing cri-

tique of Foucauldian biopolitics, arguing that its limi-

tations are a product of Foucaults exhaustive, but

temporally contingent, analysis of a specifically modern

period in which sovereign power and then biopolitics

came to articulate themselves. Esposito offers a clarifi-

cation of the subject of biopolitics: the population.

Rather than a confluence of people sharing rights or

national consciousness, a population is many individ-

uals each with a body. By anchoring biopolitics to thesoma and recognising developments in prosthesis,

Esposito recognises that the ontology of corporeality is

thrown into question. With the bodys bounds in

crisis, what becomes of the biopolitical subject?

We are asked whether or not there is a more effec-

tive principle than immunity in understanding the

semiotic gravity of the permeable bounds of the

autonomous self in opposition to the other. The book

argues convincingly that the paradigm of modernity

can be conceived as one of immunity; Esposito high-

lights the profound challenges to the bodys supposedly

incontestable limits that are brought into being by

advancements in contemporary biotechnology. With

such an emphasis on modernitys challenge to accepted

human selfhood, the book effectively prompts its

readers to ask whether we must reconfigure the lens

through which we understand autonomous human

existence.

Rosalind G. Williams(University of York)

Nietzsches Enlightenment: The Free-Spirit

Trilogy of the Middle Period by Paul Franco.

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2011.

262pp., 26.00, ISBN 9780226259819

Paul Franco has written a very important book advanc-

ing a compelling argument on Nietzsches thought,

that contrary to the interpretation of various post-

modern thinkers (Derrida, Kofman, Deleuze, Blondel

et al.) Nietzsches middle period works (Human AllToo Human, Daybreak and The Gay Science) offer amore friendly critique of the Enlightenment and

rationalism of the humanist tradition than is usually

portrayed by the secondary literature that deals with

this period (if at all). Franco also makes the point that

these middle period works often lack the rhetorical

character and tone that shape Nietzsches later works.

In addressing the works of Nietzsches middle

period, Franco suggests that they are hardly a minor

respite or break from the early period of his work

(with the influences of romanticism, Wagner and

Schopenhauer), before Nietzsche turned to his later

works (where his rhetorical character becomes that of a

prophet, one who seeks to philosophize with the

hammer). All too often Nietzsches middle period gets

BOOK REVIEWS 255


overshadowed either by the early period or the later

works, and is often seen as a transition point or a quiet

interlude between the two storms that shape

Nietzsches thought. Franco argues that this middle

period, although it gave Nietzsche the means to break

with the overly romantic influence of Wagner and

Schopenhauer on his thinking, also reveals a Nietzsche

who is more restrained in his critique of the Enlight-

enment and various Enlightenment thinkers. One thus

sees a different Nietzsche to the one usually presented

in much of the secondary literature of the past thirty

years; one who offers a much more friendly critique of

the use of reason in various Enlightenment thinkers

than he does in either the earlier or later works.

Francos examination of the middle period works

shows a Nietzsche who preaches moderation and who

sees the value of rationality instead of Dionysian

Frenzy, and a philosopher whose philosophising is

achieved through the will to power. Franco also

argues that although the later works and their tone do

break decisively with the moderation of the middle

period, nonetheless key themes and concerns such as

a commitment to reason and intellectual honesty

remain in those later works as well. Francos work

shows that the Nietzsche of the later period did not

simply disregard all that was cultivated in the middle

period, despite the radical break with regard to tone

and style.

Another important aspect of Francos book is its

clear and relatively jargon-free style, which makes the

reading experience enjoyable. Overall, this is a valuable

addition to Nietzsche studies and will be a book that

future scholars will be forced to address one way or

another.

Clifford Angell Bates Jr.(University of Warsaw)

Rethinking Gramsci by Marcus E. Green (ed.).

Abingdon: Routledge, 2013. 336pp., 28.00, ISBN

978 0 415 82055 4

The perspectives and interpretations of Antonio

Gramsci in contemporary politics have become crucial

to understanding the complex conjuncture of Interna-

tional Relations over the decades. Under this lens,

Rethinking Gramsci, which is a collection of 22 articlespreviously published in the journal Rethinking Marxism,edited by Marcus Green, provides a well-organised

overview of Gramscis thought. Considering the com-

plexity of Gramscis thought, this texts main goal is to

investigate an interesting intersection between politics,

economics and cultural processes analysed as being part

of a continuum within the historical materialism of the

past and the present (p. 7). This task is certainly

accomplished.

The book is organised into four sections that discuss

the main approaches of Gramsci, from culture studies,

hegemony and philosophy to translation problems of

the Prison Notebooks. The first section is dedicated tothe main aspects of culture, literature and criticism

according to Gramscis interpretation of those topics. It

explores, for instance, Gramscis remarks on Dante,

where Paul Bov analyses some reflections upon the

problems of representation (p. 19), and Marcia Landy

considers Gramscis work with regard to cultural and

political approaches towards a socialist education in the

modern day (p. 39).

The second section presents several of Gramscis

major political concepts and views, attempting to bring

his theory into the contemporary world in several

domains for instance, in South Asia, trade unions,

feminism, political economy, ethics and capitalism.

Regarding the concept of hegemony, Derek

Boothman assesses its theoretical origins throughout

the prison writings (p. 55).

The third section advocates the co-relation between

political philosophy and Marxism, presenting, among

others, Carlos Coutinhos argument that Gramsci was

in dialogue not only with Marx and Lenin, or

Machiavelli (which is unequivocal), but also, if at times

implicitly, with other great names of modern political

philosophy Rousseau and Hegel in particular (p. 190).

The final section explores the essential concerns

regarding the translation and organisation of Joseph

Buttigiegs English edition of Gramscis Prison Note-books. While on the one hand David Ruccio states thatthe Prison Notebooks represents for me ... the discoveryof a new Gramsci (p. 269), referring to the troubles of

the English translation, Peter Ives chapter presents

The Mammoth Task of Translating Gramsci. In a

time where we can find a great deal of political and

philosophical approaches, Rethinking Gramsci providesthe reader with distinctive approaches to interpreting

Gramsci in several areas.

Fernando J. Ludwig(University of Coimbra, Portugal)



Max Webers Comparative-Historical Sociology

Today: Major Themes, Mode of Causal Analysis

and Applications by Stephen Kalberg. Farnham:

Ashgate, 2012. 338pp., 20.00, ISBN 978 1 4094

3223 4

The focus of this book is an attempt to re-evaluate

Max Webers thought in light of the current interest in

comparative-historical models of studying society.

Stephen Kalbergs work reveals to the reader a Weber

who is a much more complex and dynamic thinker.

This is achieved by Kalbergs reconstruction of

Webers thought from the various pieces of his work

that were often incomplete and unfinished due to his

premature death. It also reflects another current trend

in Weber scholarship to overcome the understanding

and view of Weber in English and the way his thought

emerged from the translations and interpretation of his

writings in the mid-twentieth century. This earlier

presentation of Weber and his thought all too often

ignored aspects in his writing, which reflected trends

and concerns in German thinking at the beginning of

the twentieth century and following on from the

doubts that arose from the experience of the First

World War. Over the past twenty years, Anglo-

American scholars have started to re-evaluate Weber in

light of their confrontation with the German scholar-

ship on him that developed from the mid-1960s to

1980s. Kalbergs volume arises in the middle of a series

of new translation projects of Webers key works that

have been started in the past fifteen years. The various

themes that Kalberg presents in the pieces selected for

this volume give us a fresh view of Weber and his

thought.

The essays in this volume are a collection of

Kalbergs writings on Weber over the last thirty years,

and consequently cohere rather well. Although this

book is written more for those interested in sociology

and social theory, it is also of interest to students of

politics. I would suggest that Part III could be of great

interest to students of comparative politics and espe-

cially those interested in approaches to political culture.

As for Part IV, this would very much interest students

of political thought and the thought of Weber and its

development. Kalbergs re-examination of Webers

work on the role of religion (Jewish monotheism, the

Hindu caste system and Confucianism in China) might

also be of interest to students concerned with the

impact religious actors have upon the structure of a

society and its political culture. Overall, students of

politics and political thought will find lots to mine

from this volume, even if these contributions were

directed more at students of sociology and social

thought.

Clifford Angell Bates Jr.(University of Warsaw)

History of Political Theory: An Introduction,

Volume I: Ancient and Medieval by George

Klosko. Oxford: Oxford University Press, second

edition, 2012. 373pp., 24.99, ISBN 978 0 19 969542 3

History of Political Theory: An Introduction,

Volume II: Modern by George Klosko. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, second edition, 2013. 592pp.,

24.99, ISBN 978 0 19 969545 4

By now George Kloskos two-volume History of Politi-cal Theory is an established textbook that has proven tobe very useful both for students and teachers. There-

fore, one should warmly welcome the fact that Oxford

University Press has published a second, updated

version.

The first edition was published in 1994. Klosko has

revised his magnum opus, taking into account hislongstanding experience of teaching undergraduate

and graduate students and introducing them to the

major authors and themes of the history of political

thought. In doing so, he has rewritten several sections

to clarify his presentation, replaced some older trans-

lations with new ones, and updated the references and

suggestions for further reading. The basic structure of

the book, however, has been untouched. The core of

it is reserved for detailed discussions of the political

ideas of the great authors. So, in the first volume,

Klosko narrates the history of Western political

thought from its beginning in ancient Greece to the

Middle Ages, culminating in the Reformation period.

The major authors who receive lengthy treatments are

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St Augustine, St Thomas

Aquinas and Marsilius of Padua. There are also chap-

ters on the origins, the Hellenistic period, the New

Testament background and the Reformation period.

In the second volume Klosko starts his exposition with

Machiavelli and ends in the mid-nineteenth century

with Marx. The other authors who figure prominently

BOOK REVIEWS 257


in this volume are Hobbes, Locke, Hume,

Montesquieu, Rousseau, Burke, Bentham, James and

John Stuart Mill, and Hegel. The reason why Klosko

has included these authors in his overview is for their

continuing relevance (p. vii). What makes this text-

book so useful is the large number of quotations from

the primary texts. They give the reader the opportu-

nity to delve directly into these authors political phi-

losophy and become familiar with their concepts, ways

of reasoning and political language.

However praiseworthy and valuable Kloskos

volumes may be, there are two points of criticism that

should be noted. First, although it has been a deliberate

choice to opt for depth rather than breadth (p. vii),

the question remains why certain authors did not

receive a (detailed) discussion. Just to give one

example, why does Tacitus not figure in this textbook?

His ideas have been very influential and have inspired

dozens of authors during the Renaissance, while he

might also have been an important key figure in the

understanding of the transition from Machiavelli to

Hobbes. On the other hand, one may question what

has brought Klosko to devote two chapters to Plato

(besides the fact that this Greek philosopher has

attracted his attention for a long time and on whose

political philosophy he has written several very valu-

able contributions)?

The second point of criticism concerns the title of

this textbook with its reference to political theory

(instead of political philosophy or political thought).

The difference between these notions depends, as

Klosko points out in a footnote, on the level of

abstraction. Although it is true that he has paid careful

attention to the context in which each of these phi-

losophies took shape, it is also true that with his

emphasis on depth rather than breadth as well as on

continuing relevance he seems to have had a particular

eye for a certain level of abstraction that has been

appealing to other thinkers in the course of time.

Therefore, doubts may be raised with regard to the

choice of these volumes title. Part of these doubts

could have been lifted by adding a section in which

Klosko dwelled for a while on these matters. At the

very least, it would have made clear his views on

the use of these terms and what they implied for the

narration of his overview. These are all, however,

minor points of criticism, which in no way detract

from the value this textbook has and will have for a

new generation of students, teachers and others who

are interested in the history of political theory.

Erik De Bom(University of Leuven)

Mill: A Guide for the Perplexed by Sujith

Kumar. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. 179pp., 14.99,

ISBN 978 1 84706 403 5

This book is, as the author tells us, an introduction to

the topics in J. S. Mills thought that are particularly

challenging to access on their own (pp. 1112). As

such, it is not an overview of Mills thought and is

written in the context of the liberal-utilitarian debate

that has been the focus of much scholarship on Mill.

The book is a contribution to the revisionary school,

which suggests Mills liberalism and utilitarianism are

part of a coherent project of reform.

Those with a philosophical background will be espe-

cially interested in the second chapter that discusses

Mills method and his views on character. These

themes are developed by an analysis of Mills utilitari-

anism, such as the role of associationism in sanctions

that enforce utilitarian morality. This is followed by

an examination of Mills Principle of Liberty which

includes an assessment of applications of the Principle

to the free market, indecency and the liberty of

parents. Kumar then addresses Mills view of history,

including his views on democracy, before returning to

the liberal-utilitarian debate by assessing some of Isaiah

Berlin and John Grays arguments. Although this book

will be of primary benefit to students, Mill scholars

will also gain from reading it.

This is a well-written, accessible and engaging book,

which succeeds in providing an introduction to some

of the most important aspects of Mills thought as well

as being a worthy contribution to the liberal-utilitarian

debate. Kumar does not allow this debate to dominate

all chapters, resulting in a larger number of topics

being addressed than is often the case with such con-

tributions. Although other important topics that have

been the focus of much recent research, such as Mills

international political thought, are not discussed, this is

understandable given the aims and parameters of the

book.

Kumars references to other thinkers and groups

who influenced Mill, such as Jeremy Bentham and

Auguste Comte, and lesser known influences such as



Thomas Hare and Malthusian ideas, help us to under-

stand the intellectual context in which Mill developed

his ideas. Although there is overall a good balance

between description and evaluation, further analysis

on certain topics, such as the strength of Grays argu-

ment concerning the fallacy of progress and the

implications of this for Mills project, would have

been beneficial given its potentially devastating con-

sequences for Mill.

Daniel Duggan(Durham University)

Democratic Futures: Re-visioning Democracy

Promotion by Milja Kurki. Abingdon: Routledge,

2012. 296pp., 26.99, ISBN 978 0 415 69034 8

The ubiquity of democracy promotion on Western

policy agendas provides the context for Milja Kurkis

timely and compelling new book. From Afghanistan

and Iraq to Libya and Mali, military interventions are

increasingly justified in terms of democracy promo-

tion, restoration or support, rendering this one of

the most powerful international policy dynamics in the

post-Cold War era (p. 1). Democratic Futures aims togo behind the appearances of democracy support,

problematising the models of democracy that underpin

policy practice in a way the positivist literature, with its

normatively pre-given concepts, cannot (p. 3).

With an analytic terrain stretching from John Locke

to the Occupy movement, Kurki situates democracy

promotion policies within a continuum of Western

democratic discourse, practice and contestation. A con-

ceptual matrix of ideal-typical politico-economic

visions of democracy, ranging from classical liberal

and neoliberal to radical and global, informs

empirical analyses of democracy promotion models in

practice. Discourse analysis of the policies and practices

of key international actors reveals that, despite impor-

tant tensions, liberal democratic understandings of

democracy still seem to dominate (p. 215). Crucially,

it is argued that the triumphalist, explicit, big L

Liberalism of the 1990s has been replaced by implicit

(and often fuzzy or internally contested) liberalisms in

democracy promotion discourse.

Kurkis critical explanation for the dominance of

implicit liberalism among democracy promoters draws

productively upon Gramscis concept of hegemony

and Foucaults concept of governmentality. In an

important sense, the book provides a useful corollary to

the end of ideology debates of the 1990s. If ideol-

ogy disappeared from view with the Berlin Wall,

perhaps it found clandestine refuge in democracy pro-

motion discourses. It is therefore somewhat disap-

pointing that Kurki largely eschews direct engagement

with the concept of ideology here.

A cardinal achievement of Democratic Futures is there-politicisation of democracy. While many have

pointed to the essentially contested nature of the

concept, there has seldom been so thoroughgoing an

account of opposing (and overlapping) visions of

democracy. Democratic Futures constitutes an innovativeand necessary intervention in the field of democracy

promotion, denaturalising and re-politicising the terms

of debate, and pointing to some interesting alternative

directions. The book concludes with a series of policy

provocations. A refreshing antidote to the insipid

policy recommendations found at the end of many

works of political science, this set of normative injunc-

tions directed at key actors, from non-governmental

organisations to international financial institutions, cul-

minates in a general, and laudable, demand for a

radical democratic pluralism.

Ben Whitham(University of Reading)

Bergson, Politics and Religion by Alexandre

Lefebvre and Melanie White (eds). Durham, NC:

Duke University Press, 2012. 338 pp., $17.99, ISBN

978 0 8223 5275 4

Tremendous tension is tearing consumer society apart.

But any separation of societys intellectual and in-

stinctual, or of individual-mechanistic and species-

preservationist tendencies would be dreadful. Henri

Bergson teaches that these dually opposed tendencies

can neither be separated nor assimilated. They remain

the two differing manifestations of one ascetic life-

process (p. 293), for how species instinct coincides

with individual intellect so should society cohere with

its temporal freedoms. The fifteen essays in this bundle

consider Bergsons assurances that such coherence

exists and assurances may give confidence, Keck

finds, which then befalls us in one simple action

(p. 277).

All essayists in this volume respond to the why-war-

question, so finely posed throughout Bergsons The

BOOK REVIEWS 259


Two Sources of Morality and Religion, yet almost noneresponds to wars against biodiversity. Worms especially

could have added that the great mystics made truce

with extinction by taking pleasure in not wanting

pleasure: in freedom from want. Janklvitch suggests

that their mysteriously inexhaustible freedom might

turn into a static ritual. Keck understands that the

mystics were as free as they were bound by fear.

[Their] intelligence frightens itself before it cohered

with their actions (p. 276). Fujita compares this to

Sorels myth of the general strike, which frightened

before it would cohere with the free workshops (p.

137). Not an image of awful force, but the force of an

awe-inspiring image (the strike) now becomes fre-

edoms foundation.

Free and democratic societies cannot be founded

undemocratically, although they are. Societal inclusion

and forceful exclusion cannot coexist, although they

do. Ochoa-Espejo dissolves this paradox of democratic

foundation in her wonderful interpretation. Inclusive

and exclusive tendencies are the mutually opposing and

yet also qualitatively different dimensions of one

image, of the people. Ochoa-Espejo never speaks of

the myth/mystery of the democratic people and this

appears regrettable because, as concept, mystery

conveys more Bergsonism than paradox. Bergson

attended a few sances and might even have known

the 1914 Christmas truce a mysterious event that

could complement Barnards reading of him as a para-

psychologist well. Soulez instead reads Bergson as the

first to have called for a decision on the species, and

thus sounds much more urgent than either Barnard or

Ochoa-Espejo (p. 110). Still, these essayists are all very

earnest about us risking a separation between intellec-

tual and instinctual tendencies. Their work will be

warmly welcomed by students of early twentieth-

century polemological, political psychological and

perhaps political ecological action as well.

Paul Timmermans(Portland State University)

Foucault, Governmentality and Critique by

Thomas Lemke. Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2012.

131pp., 19.99, ISBN 978 159451 638 2

Michel Foucault has been one of the most significant

influences on critical and interpretive social science in

Britain over the last two decades. Yet his influence

during this time has not been static. Since 2003, the

steady trickle of translations into English of his 197884

lectures at the Collge de France has allowed Foucaults

mature reflections about governmentality, neoliberalism

and security to provide new conceptual tools for

empirical research. In this concise yet rich introduction,

Thomas Lemke presents this new Foucault to an unfa-

miliar audience. Here, Foucault is no longer the theorist

of discourse, discipline and sexuality who was known in

the 1980s and early 1990s, but founder of the field of

Governmentality Studies. No undergraduate guide, this

tightly argued and scholarly discussion explains how

governmentality not only refines Foucaults earlier,

influential theory of power, but also re-engages with

the study of the state and other phenomena of central

concern to political science.

Lemkes first chapter deftly sketches Foucaults cri-

tique of concepts of repressive sovereign power and

explains his alternative model of power as structural,

relational and productive. While most introductory

accounts might stop there, Lemke argues that, in such

works as Discipline and Punish, this model confined Fou-caults attention to the micropolitics of singular institu-

tions and eschewed any consideration of more complex

and more heterogeneous structures of power. Lemke

explains that Foucaults lectures on governmentality

transcend these limitations and offer the means to

study the broader processes of state formation and

subjectification that Foucault is sometimes accused of

overlooking.

The second chapter explains how governmentality

can usefully inform study of the genealogy and histori-

cal ontology of the state, with an instructive aside on

the distinction between governmentality and govern-

ance. Chapter 3 redefines biopolitics in the context of

security and neoliberalism, while Chapter 4 touches on

the ethical imperatives of critique. The final chapter

introduces contemporary Governmentality Studies,

which, inspired yet not confined by Foucaults prelimi-

nary remarks in the lectures, has been applied to sub-

jects as diverse as the welfare state, economic regulation

and counter-terrorism. While highlighting common

blind spots (teleology, historicism, Eurocentrism),

Lemkes concern for concision unfortunately precludes

detailed consideration of the rich interdisciplinary

scholarship on governmentality in colonial and post-

colonial contexts, which directly addresses many of

these difficulties.



Political scientists whose last contact with Foucault

occurred in the 1990s would be well advised to

re-acquaint themselves with the re-born Foucault

through Lemkes masterful introduction. Foucault is

dead; long live Foucault!

Daniel Neep(Georgetown University)

The Bloomsbury Companion to Hobbes by S. A.

Lloyd (ed.). London: Bloomsbury, 2013. 334pp.,

100.00, ISBN 978 1 4411 9045 1

The Bloomsbury Companion to Hobbes aims to provide anaccessible guide to the major themes and ideas of

Hobbesian thought (p. x). Sharon Lloyd keeps the

remainder of her editorial introduction brief. The Com-panion is divided into seven thematic chapters, rangingfrom Hobbes life and times through different aspects of

his philosophy, finishing with enduring debates and

remaining questions. Each chapter contains entries on

many of Hobbes most important ideas, and each entry

can be read independently of the others. The entries are

authored by a range of different scholars; some are

responsible for all or most of a single chapter, while

others contribute just one or two entries.

In general, the entries are informative and reliable,

providing a solid reference point for both students and

scholars of Hobbes alike. However, there are notable

exceptions and those relatively unfamiliar with Hobbes

should treat the Companion with caution. For example,after having read the very short entry on duty and

obligation (pp. 1245), a newcomer to Hobbes could

remain completely unaware that there has ever been

any controversy concerning the nature of obligation in

his philosophy. That the further reading points to

nothing more than three chapters from Leviathan andone section of De Corpore is unlikely to remedy this.By contrast, other articles are far more thorough and

are accompanied by extensive and helpful guides to the

secondary literature.

This reflects a more general problem concerning

the balance and consistency of the Companion. Someentries are simply reference points, providing an over-

view of Hobbes ideas on the topic, while others adopt

a more critical and evaluative approach. For example,

in a concise entry on instrumental reasoning we learn

that Hobbes goal of a fully deductive science of poli-

tics was bound to fail (p. 76). Of more concern is the

extent to which different entries vary in length, some-

times with seemingly no correspondence to their rela-

tive importance. In the chapter on Hobbes method

we thus find more space dedicated solely to game

theoretic interpretations than to the following four

entries on geometry, logic, materialism and motion

combined. Some stylistic differences are unavoidable

given that the entries are authored by different schol-

ars, but at times there seems to be a lack of common

purpose regarding the desired contribution of the

entries. Nonetheless, the Companion does address acomprehensive range of topics and could prove a

useful, albeit somewhat flawed, reference point for

anyone studying Hobbes.

Robin Douglass(Kings College, London)

Shaping the Normative Landscape by David

Owens. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

260pp., 30.00, ISBN 978 0 19 969 150 0

In David Owens interesting and challenging new

book, he aims to explore how human beings create

norms for themselves and how they shape those norms.

Human beings, he says, have a need to mould our

normative niche (p. 172). The types of cases used to

support his argument include friendships, promises and

consent to sexual contact. The interesting departure in

his project is that he makes little effort to attempt to

ground these normative obligations in the typical

framework of morality (autonomy, moral reason,

equality, rights), but instead tries to build the frame-

work of the normative landscape from the ground up,

in a constructivist fashion, although Owens himself

never refers to his own view as constructivist in the

typical, meta-ethical sense.

Owens primary targets are those, like David Hume

and T. M. Scanlon, who hold the view he calls

Rationalism about Obligation the belief that you

are bound to perform your obligations only in the

sense that they serve some interest (p. 124). The

primary counter-example to this view, according to

Owens, is cases of bare wrongings, where a violation

(usually of a promise) constitutes no harm or action

against a human interest (p. 15). A broken promise, for

instance, not to photograph someone while they sleep

could be a bare wronging even if the promisee neverlearns of the existence of said photo, and even if the

BOOK REVIEWS 261


photo is never developed or downloaded anywhere.

These bare wrongings are harms despite the fact that

Rationalism can make no sense of them being harmful

without someones interest being affected by them. In

Owens view, much of the social function of activities

like promising and the value of friendship is deter-

mined by our need to shape the world we live in to fit

our (non-Rationalistic) phenomenology of intentional

agency. Crucial concepts in moral psychology and

moral agency like consent, forgiveness and obliga-

tion are examined in varying degrees of detail

although, at times, some views are more skeletal than

others. The discussion of sexual consent and rape in

Chapter 7, for example, lays out only the barest of

theories about the nature of what consent to sex

might really be. This is a mere quibble, however. This

is an original and challenging attempt to ground the

nature of normativity, placed in the welcome contexts

of (as Scanlon would say) what we owe to each other.

Eric M. Rovie(Georgia Perimeter College, Atlanta)

Reading Hayek in the 21st Century: A Critical

Inquiry Into His Political Thought by Theo

Papaioannou. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

221pp., 57.50, ISBN 978 0 230 30162 7

Friedrich von Hayek has been recognised as one of the

greatest economists of the twentieth century. This

book is written with the explicit aim of proving his

theory inadequate for the problems of the twenty-first

century. The author claims that not only does Hayeks

theory offer no remedy to the current global economic

crises, but it is their cause (p. 193). Yet interestingly,

this book is not about contemporary politics or eco-

nomic theory. Rather, Theo Papaioannous goal is to

provide an immanent critique of the moral dimension

of Hayeks political theory and its epistemological and

methodological foundations (p. 2). In a long and

complex intellectual excursus which demonstrates

the authors wide-ranging philosophical knowledge

and demands no less dexterity from the reader the

internal paradox of Hayeks political theory is revealed.

The book explores the development of the founda-

tions of Hayeks economic theory: biological sponta-

neity, anti-rational epistemology and the order of

catallaxy the concept of social spontaneity and cul-

tural evolution that sets the term of his moral and

political thought (p. 131). Papaioannous main claim is

that there is a fundamental problem with Hayeks

catallaxy: although the spontaneous order does not

morally justify substantive politics, it requires powerful

political institutions to be preserved in terms of liber-

alism. The biologically inspired system of spontaneous

social order is not per se a guarantee against anti-socialbehaviour, totalitarianism and strife (p. 144).

The book is well-written, albeit at times the sub-

stance is obfuscated by repetitions or excessive use of

jargon. Clearly, the author takes very seriously his com-

mitment to purge Hayek from contemporary economic

thought, and he makes a strong point about the internal

incoherence in Hayeks thought. Yet at times it seems

the authors own political goal to prove that Hayek

cannot be reconciled with political liberalism cuts

short the intellectual breadth of his otherwise worthy

book.

Or Rosenboim( University of Cambridge)

The Cambridge Companion to Oakeshott by

Efraim Podoksik (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2011. 386pp., 19.99, ISBN 978 0

521 14792 7

Following publication of a similar work by Penn State

Press, Cambridge University Press (CUP) has pub-

lished a companion of considerable quality on the

British philosopher Michael Oakeshott. Having

reviewed the first volume with reference to the second

in the previous issue of PSR, I now briefly review thesecond, with reference to the first.1

Edited by Efraim Podoksik, CUPs volume focuses

on Oakeshotts philosophical work, leaving his life

largely out of the picture. Biographical information is

provided only through a brief chronology of short

notes. In lieu of shedding light on his thought by

considering the philosophers extra-academic activity,

substantial space is reserved in the book for contextual

analyses of Oakeshotts interventions in historical dis-

courses. Thus, one part (Part III) of CUPs Companion isdedicated to comparative perspectives on Oakeshott

and others. Otherwise, the organisation of the book

very much parallels Franco and Marshs volume in that

first articles are collected on Oakeshotts understanding

of philosophy, history, science, aesthetics and education

(Part I), and second on his political philosophy (Part II).



Whereas Franco and Marsh include pieces of scholar-

ship that will be of greater interest for advanced scholars,

the strength of CUPs Companion is its clear conspectus ofOakeshotts philosophy. Unfortunately, the editor pro-

vides little guidance to the reader in his introduction,

which will be regretted by students unfamiliar with the

content and significance of Oakeshotts thought.

Podoksik affirms that the book has a plan and direction

(p. 3) without explaining exactly what this plan and

direction are supposed to be. Thus, the organisation of

the book in particular, the fact that the articles dealing

with the intellectual influences on Oakeshott are placed

at the end will not strike everyone as self-explanatory.

Also, one may have wished to know more about why the

editor and some contributors hold Oakeshotts philoso-

phy in particularly high esteem, while others are abra-

sively critical. In the essay meant to provide a general

overview of Oakeshotts political theory (p. 5), for

instance, William A. Galston concludes that Oakeshott

ultimately cross[ed] the line separating philosophical

radicalism from outright implausibility (p. 242). In the

face of such dissenting voices, the editor only recalls the

truism that the recognition of the value of a philosophy

is a matter of subjective judgement (p. 1), which is

unsatisfying if only because it tends to imply that readers

sympathetic to Oakeshott need not take seriously the

objections raised by critics.

However, despite the deficits of the introduction,

Podoksik has certainly done a good job with assem-

bling the contributions to CUPs Companion. It servesas a very good starting point for familiarising oneself

with Oakeshotts thought. By portraying Oakeshott as

a particularly controversial thinker, it is also likely to

motivate further research.

Note1 Franco, P. and Marsh, L. (eds) (2012) A Companion to

Michael Oakeshott. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania StateUniversity Press. For the mentioned review, see PSR(2014) 12 (1), 967.

Martin Beckstein(University of Zurich)

On Global Justice by Mathias Risse. Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University Press, 2012. 480pp., 27.95,

ISBN 978 0691142692

As Mathias Risse explains in the opening chapter of

On Global Justice, traditionally, debates over justice in

political philosophy have been concerned with

domestic justice: justice within states. However, inrecent decades, due to globalisation, the issue of

justice between states has become increasingly salient.This is the area of global justice. Discussion in this

area has been framed by two different approaches:

statist and cosmopolitan. For statists, the relevant

grounds of justice are relational: membership withinstates. For cosmopolitans, on the other hand, states are

viewed as morally arbitrary and, as such, the relevant

grounds of justice are non-relational: our common

humanity.

In this book Risse develops an intermediate

approach to global justice, which he terms pluralistinternationalism. This novel approach generates differ-ent principles of justice for each of the various

grounds. At the domestic level, Risse employs a

Rawlsian approach to justice. At the global level,

however, he recognises non-relational grounds of

justice that must also work alongside domestic princi-

ples of justice. In short, pluralist internationalism rec-

ognises the normative peculiarity of states, while, at

the same time, recognising various other grounds of

justice such as our common humanity and collective

ownership of the earth. Building on the work of the

seventeenth-century philosopher Hugo Grotius, Risse

develops a secularised account of our common own-

ership of the earth. As a relevant ground of justice,common ownership implies that each person, through

having common ownership of the earth, has a right to

satisfy their basic needs independently of the accom-

plishments of others. Common ownership has impli-

cations for immigration, intergenerational justice and

climate change, and entails a minimally demanding set

of rights. The grounds of justice approach also hasimplications for global trade, intellectual property

rights and labour rights.

This book will appeal to those engaged in normative

theorising about justice at the global level. It displays a

scholarly rigour and philosophical depth that renders

much of the existing literature in this area obsolete. As

a unique approach to global justice, it helps us under-

stand the way in which justice applies in nuanced ways

depending on the particular context we are examining.

Risses attempted rapprochement between statists andcosmopolitans is persuasive and should provide a para-

digm shift for many working in the area of interna-

tional justice. I have no doubt that this book will come

BOOK REVIEWS 263


to play a central role in normative theorising about

global justice for some time to come.

Daniel Savery(National University of Ireland, Galway)

Perpetual War: Cosmopolitanism from the

Viewpoint of Violence by Bruce Robbins.

Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012. 247pp.,

15.99, ISBN 978 0 8223 5209 9

When you purchase a shirt in Wal-Mart, wonders

Bruce Robbins in Perpetual War, do you ever imagineyoung women in Bangladesh forced to work from 7:30

a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, paid just 9 cents to

20 cents an hour? (p. 97). At the root of the intellectual

exercise in which Robbins invites his readers to indulge

lies a profound disenchantment with the old elitist

formulations of cosmopolitan thought, informed by

existential detachment from the core practices of

national belonging and normative impulses ingrained

with patriotic fervour, and an embrace of more

immediate, everyday (p. 34) and, therefore, more cen-

sorious new modes of being in the world rife with

economic injustices and exploitation, pathologies of

global inequality, cultural and religious intolerance, mili-

tarism and asymmetries of power, and the unredeemable

ghosts of imperial zeal all of which are searchingly

appraised in the books eight incisive chapters.

In the face of gratuitous acts of violence, the author

argues, cosmopolitanism can no longer afford to remain

disaffected and narcissistically self-absorbed with its

highly individualised emotional philanthropy toward

abstract notions of humanity. Its bland, pious, or pow-

erless (p. 30) propensities, Robbins contends, must be

abandoned in the name of probing critiques of nation-

alism, interventionism and the socio-economic conse-

quences of unrestrained capitalism. Cosmopolitanism

must seek to become a moral equivalent of war (p. 30)

that is audaciously committed to the defence of human

dignity, humanitarian principles and translocal justice.

The key challenge of the book for the author is to

articulate a viable global ethic, able to express an inter-

national sense of right and wrong that is powerful

enough to have an enduring grip on our hearts (p. 36).

Scholars of cosmopolitan thought who expect

Robbins to furnish a nuanced expos of juridical reper-

cussions of war from a cosmopolitan point of view will

be disappointed. For one thing, the books title is, at

face value, misleading. Robbins thematically discon-

nected chapters survey instead contributions of the

mainstream academic left (Noam Chomsky, Edward

Said and Slavoj iek, among others) to a conception

of cosmopolitanism qua exile, secularism and anti-imperialism in order to elucidate its often paradoxical

nature and alert the reader to the cosmopolitan duty of

waging perpetual war with the lingering echoes of

national self-righteousness. The author falls short,

however, of imbuing the peculiarities of cosmopolitan

normativity with the overpromised and under-delivered

weighty, positive, and socially grounded (p. 34) ori-

entation. Nevertheless, a forgiving and open-minded

audience will appreciate the determination with which

Robbins dissects the vicissitudes of political action in

the world of profound socio-cultural complexities and

ever-shifting allegiances.

Joanna Rozpedowski(University of South Florida, Tampa)

Hegels Rabble: An Investigation into Hegels

Philosophy of Right by Frank Ruda. London:

Continuum, 2011. 218pp., 21.99, ISBN 978 1 4725

1016 7

Frank Ruda is not the first to take an interest in what

Hegel has to say about the existence of the rabble in

the Philosophy of Right. Others have seen in this accountevidence of Hegels sociological sensibility about the

underside of an emergent market economy and have

borne witness to the great thinkers uncertainty about

what if anything can be done about the challenge

this creates. This book takes Hegels remarks on the

rabble and spins out from them a critique of the entire

structure of the mature Hegels politics. In his recogni-

tion of the existence and the attitude of the rabble,

Hegel reveals an entity that his account of civil society

(and family and state) cannot comprehend. The rabble

is not just another name for the poor. In fact, Hegel

speaks of both a poor rabble and a rich rabble, with

the latter characterised above all by the figure of the

gambler the one who has taken a punt in the lottery

of the market and won. Both rich and poor are

excluded (or exclude themselves) from the life (and

norms) of civil society. Upon Rudas account, the poor

rabble (the only authentically radical rabble) rebels

against the morality of civil society and its rights. It is

indignant and, in some sense Hegel feels, it is right to



be indignant. It is required to share the norms of a civil

society from which it is systematically excluded. It

demands subsistence from society because it cannot playby the rules. In the book, Ruda tracks the various ways

in which Hegel tries (and fails) to resolve this challenge

from within the framework of his philosophy of right.

But, in the end, it is a problem he cannot solve. It is only

really resolved when, in the work of Marx, rabble

morphs into proletariat.

Hegels Rabble is not an easy read. In a dense argu-ment, paradox piles upon paradox in an accumulation

of un-everything (the un-estate, the un-organ, theun-right and so on). And the difficulty of the text isnot made any easier by some infelicitous translation

and some careless proofreading. Noneth

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